Top Mozilla’s Board Members Resign Because New CEO Doesn’t Support Same-sex Marriage

Three top members of Mozilla’s six-person board have reportedly resigned because of the appointment of Brendan Eich as chief executive officer CEO this week.

According to The Wall Street Journal, former Mozilla CEOs Gary Kovacs and John Lilly, along with Ellen Siminoff, the CEO of education startup Shmoop, all resigned last week just before Eich’s promotion was made public. Still on the board is Mozilla co-founder Mitchell Baker, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Spiegel Online’s CEO Katharina Borchert.

Even though, Eich co-founded Mozilla and invented JavaScript, has become the target of scorn from employees because it’s alleged that he donated $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, Proposition 8 is a California ballot measure from 2008 that banned same-sex marriage.

That measure passed, but was later ruled unconstitutional in 2012. Eich acknowledged skepticism about his appointment in a blog post earlier this week, arguing that he was “committed to ensuring that Mozilla is, and will remain, a place that includes and supports everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, economic status, or religion.” Critics say that stance has come too late.

According to The Journal, the former board members were seeking a company outsider to serve as CEO, and the reasoning was not related to the aforementioned investment. Ahead of Eich’s new role, the company was relying on Jay Sullivan as acting CEO. Sullivan, who left as part of the shuffle, spent six years at Mozilla and was previously its chief operating officer, a role that’s being filled by former Microsoft and Sun Microsystems veteran Li Gong.

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